The Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division (RACE) of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) conducts bottom trawl surveys to monitor the condition of the demersal fish and crab stocks of Alaska. These data include catch per unit effort for each commercially important crab species at a standard set of stations in the eastern Bering Sea. This is a subset of the main database. Excluded are certain non standard tows and other types of data collected other than species id, species size category, species catch per unit effort (number per square nautical mile), water temperature and depth.

This dataset contains crab data from a field survey of Chionoecetes spp. collected during the 2016 NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/RACE groundfish and invertebrate resources bottom trawl survey of the eastern Bering Sea continental slope (EBSS). Crabs were taken opportunistically, at any station regardless of location and depth, and at random. Blood samples were taken from collected crab using non-lethal methods and were preserved in 100% ethanol. Samples were tested in a laboratory with a DNA test to detect the presence of the parasite Hematodinium sp., the causative agent of Bitter Crab Syndrome (BCS). The data includes sampling year, sampling station information, species, crab morphometrics, Hematodinium sp. parasite presence/absence based on PCR assay results.

This dataset contains crab data from a field survey of Chionoecetes bairdi and C. opilio collected at six designated index sites in the Bering Sea during the 2015 NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/RACE crab-groundfish bottom trawl surveys of the eastern Bering Sea. Each of the six index sites were made up of approximately 10 survey stations and chosen based on historical incidences of the parasite Hematodinium sp., the causative agent of Bitter Crab Syndrome (BCS). Blood samples were taken from collected crab using non-lethal methods and were preserved in 100% ethanol. Samples were tested in a laboratory with a DNA test to detect the presence of the parasite Hematodinium sp., the causative agent of Bitter Crab Syndrome (BCS) to evaluate any changes in intensity of disease within the index sites that may provide information as to how the disease is moving or changing within EBS crab populations. The data includes sampling year, index site, species, crab morphometrics, Hematodinium sp. parasite presence/absence based on PCR assay results.

This dataset contains crab data from a field survey of Chionoecetes bairdi and C. opilio collected at six designated index sites in the Bering Sea during the 2014 NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/RACE crab-groundfish bottom trawl survey of the eastern Bering Sea. Each of the six index sites were made up of approximately 10 survey stations and chosen based on historical incidences of the parasite Hematodinium sp., the causative agent of Bitter Crab Syndrome (BCS). Crab collected at each survey station were preserved and tested in a laboratory with a DNA test for the presence of Hematodinium sp. parasite DNA to evaluate any changes in intensity of disease within the index sites that may provide information as to how the disease is moving or changing within EBS crab populations. The data includes index site, species, crab morphometrics, Hematodinium sp. parasite presence/absence based on PCR assay results.

This dataset contains crab data from a field survey of Chionoecetes bairdi and C. opilio collected at six designated index sites in the Bering Sea during the 2016 NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/RACE crab-groundfish bottom trawl surveys of the eastern Bering Sea. Each of the six index sites were made up of approximately 10 survey stations and chosen based on historical incidences of the parasite Hematodinium sp., the causative agent of Bitter Crab Syndrome (BCS). Blood samples were taken from collected crab using non-lethal methods and were preserved in 100% ethanol. Samples were tested in a laboratory with a DNA test to detect the presence of the parasite Hematodinium sp., the causative agent of Bitter Crab Syndrome (BCS), to evaluate any changes in intensity of disease within the index sites that may provide information as to how the disease is moving or changing within EBS crab populations. The data includes sampling year, index site, species, crab morphometrics, Hematodinium sp. parasite presence/absence based on PCR assay results.